The Pokémon Company International
Founded in 2001, Pokémon USA, Inc. is a subsidiary of The Pokémon Company in Japan, they are responsible for managing the property outside of Asia which includes licensing, marketing, the Pokémon Trading Card Game, an animated TV series, home entertainment, the official Pokémon website and store in New York City.
History
In 2003 Pokémon USA's distribution agreement with Wizards of the Coast for the Pokémon trading cards ended. After this, Pokémon USA took over as the manufacturer and distributor of the Pokémon TCG.
In January of 2006, the licensing and merchandising agreement between 4Kids Entertainment and Pokémon USA expired. This agreement included production of the anime so Pokémon USA switched to in-house dubbing using the facilities at TAJ Productions which had worked with 4Kids on seasons one through six of the previous dub.
In May of 2006 Kids WB announced that it would be dropping all anime from its fall lineup in its move to The CW, which included the Pokémon anime. Pokémon USA went into negotiations with Cartoon Network to air past and future episodes of Pokémon, which turned out successful.
In early 2008 it was revealed that TAJ Productions would not be the facility used to dub the next season of the anime. Instead the show would now be recorded at DuArt Film and Video.
Criticisms
Mirage Special
Pokémon USA received some complaints after the initial airing of The Mastermind of Mirage Pokémon. They were accused of lying about not being able to use the 4Kids voice actors due to contract issues. This claim was denied by the voice actors, but never by 4Kids Entertainment.
They also faced criticism in regards to Jamie Peacock voicing Ash. Many fans complained about her portrayal of the character. In response, Pokémon USA announced that they would redub the Mirage Special with improved voices. The redub became available on the eighth movie DVD, and was aired on October 28, 2006 on Cartoon Network.
Hiring of voice actors
At Comic Con 2006, it was revealed that Ash's voice actor would change, and his new voice actress would be the then nineteen-year-old Sarah Natochenny. Although a talented actress with many non-animation credits to her name, some fans criticized the company for their decision to hire Sarah, as she had no experience with anime voicovers. They claimed that Sarah was too inexperienced. However, Veronica Taylor, the first actress to voice Ash, was only twenty and fresh out of acting school when she landed the role.
Trivia
- Pokémon USA frequently checks out the Pokémon fansites and forums to get a general idea of what the fans feel.
- Many senior employees, VPs are required to play the game and complete their Pokédex as a part of their job.
- The rooms and offices in the building are filled with Pokémon posters, plush toys, figures, all of the rooms are even named after Pokémon (E.G the Zapdos room)
